Home Counties (album) explained

Home Counties
Type:	studio
Artist:	Saint Etienne
Cover:	Saint Etienne - Home Counties.png
Border:	yes
Length:	56:20
Label:	Heavenly
Producer:	Augustus Carwyn Ellis Shawn Lee Nick Moon Saint Etienne Pete Wiggs
Prev Title:	Words and Music by Saint Etienne
Prev Year:	2012
Next Title:	I've Been Trying to Tell You
Next Year:	2021

Home Counties is the ninth studio album by English alternative dance band Saint Etienne, released on 2 June 2017 by Heavenly Recordings.^[1] The album features collaborations with Gerard Johnson, Augustus (also known as Gus Lobban of Kero Kero Bonito) and Nick Moon (of Kyte). The album features production from Shawn Lee, Carwyn Ellis and Richard X.

Critical reception

Home Counties received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 79, based on 16 reviews.^[2]

Commercial performance

Home Counties debuted at number 31 on the UK Albums Chart, selling 3,215 copies in its first week.^[3]

Track listing

All tracks produced by Saint Etienne and Shawn Lee, except where noted.

Notes

• signifies an additional producer

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Home Counties.^[4]

Saint Etienne

• Sarah Cracknell – vocals
• Bob Stanley – keyboards
• Pete Wiggs – keyboards

Additional musicians

• Shawn Lee – drums, percussion, programming, Maestro Rhythm King, bass, guitars, banjo, vibraphone, Mellotron, Yamaha ED10, Siel synth, Casio CZ101, Yamaha CS-5, Roland MC-202, Crumar Multiman, microKORG, Omnichord, glockenspiel, marimba, tambourine handclaps, backing vocals
  • Gerard Johnson – voice ; piano ; Fender Rhodes, Hammond organ, Teisco 100P, Yamaha YS100 Carwyn Ellis – bass, guitars, Mellotron, harpsichord, Hammond organ
  • Augustus – programming ; Novation Bass Station, Kawai PHm, Yamaha PSR-76 ; Roland MT-32, Korg 101 Ben Greenslade-Stanton – trombone, trumpet
• Mark Waterfield – guitar, backing vocals
• Lawrence Oakley – programming, Nord Lead 3, backing vocals
• Tim Larcombe – bass
• James Arben – flute
• Ken Bruce – voice
• Wolf – voice

Technical

• Shawn Lee – production ; mixing
• Saint Etienne – production
• Pierre Duplan – engineering ; mixing
• Carwyn Ellis – production
• Augustus – production
• Richard X – additional production, mixing
• Pete Wiggs – production
• Nick Moon – production
• Guy Davie – mastering at Electric Mastering (London)

Artwork

• Scott King – art, design
• Rhys Atkinson – art assistance, design assistance
• Dee Noble – photography

Notes and References

1. Brandle . Lars . Saint Etienne Returns with 'Home Counties' . . 23 March 2017 . 26 June 2017.
2. Web site: Reviews and Tracks for Home Counties by Saint Etienne . . 10 June 2017.
3. Web site: Jones . Alan . Official Charts Analysis: Ed Sheeran's ÷ back at No.1 . . 9 June 2017 . 26 June 2017 . subscription.
4. Home Counties . liner notes . . . 2017 . HVNLP139CD.